Discussion Questions for the Merchants of Cool

• Discussion Questions for the Merchants of Cool
1. Give two reasons why corporate America has targeted teenagers.
Deposal income, they want to be cool
2. Why does Robert McChesney call teenagers “Africa”?
This range that is going to take over, they have all the money
3. What does Bob Bibb emphasize about teens and their parents?
Teens push their parents to give them money
4. How does Sharon Lee define “guilt money”?
Money that they give them is because parents don’t get to spend time with tem, pretty much guilt money
5. To what extent is a typical American teenager exposed to advertisements? Give examples.
TV, build boards, 3000 a day
6. What does “cool hunting” mean? Why is it important for corporate America?
To find out what is cool to advertise it, so that they know what to put in the store.
7. How do cool hunters work? What techniques do they use?
They find the 20% of the teens that set the trends. They find them and picture and interview them.
8. According to Douglas Rushkoff, “the paradox of “cool hunting” is that it kills what it finds.” Why?
Because it comes out and then everyone has it , which then make it uncool. So then they go out and find something new that is made cool.
9. Marketers know that kids do not like them. What strategy do they use to approach kids?
They use stuff like parties and they make fun of the way people market to you.
10. What is the reason for Sprite’s success with teenagers?
Because they were selling a life style, they have celebrates.

11. What does “under-the-radar” marketing mean?
They paid teens to comment like a fan, they are marketing to you without you knowing it
12. Discuss the following statements: “Youth culture is not something that is just being sold to us. It is something that comes from us. It is an act of expression, not just an act of consumption.”
They look at what we do and put it on TV, find out what we like.
13. Who are defined as the true merchants of cool?
Teens
14. According to Robert McChesney, what weapons do the merchants of cool use?
They have all the technology
15. What does Robert McChesney draw our attention to about MTV?
It sells merchants, it has commercial shows what you should get or wear
16. What conclusion did MTV draw when their ratings slipped?
They had to release that the teens run cool
17. What is special about MTV’s TRL show?
Because the tees chose what they want to see
18. MTV market researchers are involved in an “ethnography study”. What is it? What is the use of it?
When you actually go to the teens to see what we like and what we would buy
19. What does MTV research indicate about teenagers as a result of their ethnographic study?

20. Comment on the following quote by Douglas Rushkoff : “They [MTV market researchers] don’t call it “human” research or “people” research, they call it “market” research.”

That they are not really studying people their studying what would be best to sell or what is cool

21. According to Mark Crispin Miller, why is the MTV machine not interested in listening to the young?
Doesn’t listen to the young to make them happy

22. Why do commercial culture providers like MTV not represent characters in depth for their audiences?
Because people dont care about their life, they want to have sex on the screen.
23. What does “professional wrestling” mean to today’s teenagers?
Because it has a pop! They don’t know what is going to happen next
24. Why is Mark Crispin Miller quite concerned about gigantic transnational corporations and their TV shows?
Mook and midriff
25. What does “midriff” mean? Who is the midriff archetype? How might a midriff affect girls?
They represnt girls and how they should be
26. What does the image of Britney Spears signify? That she is a sex icon
27. What might a mook and a midriff have in common?
Represnt

28. How is “family” represented in the TV series “7th Heaven”? What formula is used in this program?
So that a family can sit down and watch tv
29. How are TV series such as “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Dawson’s Creek” kept “cool”?
Because it was teen sexual contact
30. How do the makers of teen TV defend their programs?
Because trash sells
31. Does the media really reflect the world of teens? How realistic is teen TV?
Media is just a mirror their showing you are really doing in your life
32. What is a “feedback loop”?
Find out what you like and sell it
33. What could be the reason for the popularity of rage rock in the States? What do rage rock fans protest against?
They were racist, and rebels rage
34. How did a group like Limp Bizkitt become superstars? As a rage rock band, how authentic would you accept them?
They find a small band that is growing big and get them ready for the big world

35. Discuss the following: Who creates youth cultures: the youth themselves or corporate America?
The youth themself